This morning, the Bearcats (9-3) traveled to Boston to take on Louisville (7-5) in the Wasabi Fenway Bowl. The Bearcats were looking to renew the Keg of Nails rivalry, however this one had a little more behind it this time around, as Scott Satterfield was Louisville’s head coach throughout the 2022 season and is now the Bearcats new head coach.
The Bearcats will be without a lot of key players today on the offensive side of the ball as Tyler Scott, Tre Tucker, Josh Whyle and Lenny Taylor all announced they were opting out of this bowl game and would declare for the 2023 NFL Draft. The Bearcats were also without wide receivers Nick Mardner and Jadon Thompson as they both announced they would enter the transfer portal due to the coaching changes.
How it Happened
The Bearcats came out with a huge three and out to start the game which set the Bearcats up with great field position after Wilson Huber shot through the gap and would block the Cardinals first punt attempt of the day where the Bearcats would take over at the Cardinals 42. The Cardinals defense would bring the heat and make it tough for the Bearcats early as they would force a turnover on downs.
The Bearcats would get the first turnover of the day as Ivan Place would blow up the Cardinal backfield and force a Brock Domann fumble and the Bearcats would take over at the Cardinals 40-yard line as they looked to capitalize off the turnover. The Cardinals defense would respond with a huge sack on Evan Prater, who would fumble on the play and give the ball right back to the Cardinals at midfield.
The Cardinals would respond right away after a 49 yard touchdown run from Jawhar Jordan on the first play of the drive to give the Cardinals an early 7-0 lead with :21 seconds left in the first quarter. The Bearcats would look to find an answer for the Cardinals defense as they had three sacks and four tackles for loss in the first quarter, as the Bearcats were getting a great look in person as to what a Scott Satterfield defense will look like come next season.
Prater and the Bearcats would respond with a nine-play drive, going 75 yards after a 20-yard touchdown reception from Wyatt Fischer, his first touchdown of his career, after Prater hung in the pocket and made a miraculous throw to keep the drive alive and get the Bearcats on the board. Fischer, made two incredible catches on that drive after Prater had pressure in his face on just about every play on that drive, and continued to move the chains for the Bearcats.
The Cardinals would respond right away after a 10-yard touchdown reception by Marshon Ford capped off a 10-play drive, where the Cardinals went 66 yards as they made this a 14-7 lead with 5:52 left in the second quarter. The Cardinals would force a huge stop as they would look extend their lead heading to the break.
The Cardinals would continue to pound the ball, as Jawhar Jordan would rattle off another 41-yard touchdown run to give the Cardinals a 21-7 lead with just under a minute remaining in the first half. The down hill running attack by the Cardinals has given the Bearcats a lot of problems here early, as the Cardinals were winning the point off attack not just on the offensive side, but the defensive side as well.
The Cardinals would record five sacks (45 yards), and six tackles for loss (47 yards) in the first half where they held the Bearcats to just 98 yards of totals offense in the first half. The Bearcats knew they would have to make some adjustments heading into the second half as Prater was just taking an absolute beating in the backfield in the first 30 minutes of this one. The Cardinals held Prater to just 83 yards in the first half where he went 7-of-9 with a touchdown. The Bearcats just couldn’t get the run game going as the Cardinal brought a blitz on every play just about, and the Bearcats finished with just 15 yards on the ground in the first half, but the Bearcats offensive line was struggling versus a might Cardinals defense that is known to wreak havoc as they entered today top five in the nation in sacks, and tackles for loss.
